The Long Walk: The True Story Of A Trek To Freedom

I couldn't put this book down. I think it was well written and had a very good progression.Some think that this story wasn't true, and I don't know why. Yes, they crossed through very harsh places but they were survivors and not everybody could have made it. In fact, they lost half of their crew in the process. It's hard to believe that 4 survived this ordeal, but there is no reason to doubt they did because other people have escaped from horrible conditions in this world, and walked for a very long time and suffered to reach freedom.Someone mentioned that this story can't be believed because the group had no compass to guide them. They didn't need one because they didn't have a map. The general direction they were going was South! They did have knowledge of the geography in general and weren't dumb about it. They kept saying they were going South. They encountered locals who helped and advised them how to avoid Lhasa by going West and entering India through Sikkim. Sikkim, as the rest of the Himalaya has very high peaks. But they made their way through the pass and the valley across Sikkim (I have trekked in this area). There are 3 passes between Tibet and India. They followed the most eastern one. They still had to tackle the pre Himalaya and one might wonder how they did it. But they did it. They didn't have to go over glaciers though. They were just pushed by their urge to make it to freedom, and were extremely resilient and strong.As far as the Yeti, well, many people have reported seeing them. Could be that at this point of their long journey they were hallucinating! But I remember that several years ago trekking operators would offer treks called "In search of the Yeti in the Himalaya"!Some say that the Soviets had released the Poles and that this story is invalid. Why believe the Soviets though? They would have said anything anyway. In any case this is a great book and the story not unlike other stories of escape by foot I have read before this one. These guys were pretty smart about what to do in some circumstances, and they were incredibly strong.

This is an amazing & true story of the very worst of men & the heroic survival of the very best men. Amid inhumane & savage treatment, 7 men escape a Siberian forced labor camp & walk across Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet; & on to India. Hardships are beyond belief, as well as friendship & teamwork. It's unbelievable & gives me hope for mankind.

Very gripping story of survival, and you can’t help put yourself in their place (ordeal). Only drawback was perhaps the interpretation or the British lingo where I had to look up certain words (I’m US). Overall definitely worth reading.

There is a silver lining to being a former prisoner of war - the story. Many hostages have told their narrative in the form of a book, but few have obtained the prestige of The Long Walk. The Long Walk was ghostwritten by Ronald Downingin 1956 based on conversations he had with Slavomir Rawicz. Rawicz has never actually written a book of his own, and his story of escape from a Siberian gulag has many critics. But, regardless of the criticisms, The Long Walk delivers both historical and philosophical knowledge in a way that is both endurable and entertaining. When Downing wrote The Long Walk Rawicz was the only primary source, leading to widespread suspicion among scholars; possibly none more damning than Russian historical records. Rawicz's story begins with a detailed account of an interrogation he endured at a Soviet prison camp, which closely parallels the torture endured by Winston Smith in the fictional novel 1984. While the records do show that Rawicz had been imprisoned in 1942, they contradict Rawicz's claim as to why he was being interrogated. Rawicz claimed that he had been accused of being a Polish spy, while the records show that Rawicz had been accused of killing a NKVD officer. After being imprisoned, according to the book, Racowicz devises a successful strategy for him and six others to escape the Siberian gulag he was forced to labor in.. But, Soviet records, including statements allegedly written by Rawicz, show that Rawicz had been released as part of the 1942 general amnesty of Poles in the USSR, negating the possibility of a "trek to freedom". Of course there is little doubt that the Soviet officials had fabricated or destroyed many legal documents in an attempt to marginalize the many war crimes that had been committed. In fact, at the beginning of The Long Walk, Rawicz allegedly was subjected to torture as an attempt to coerce him into signing a document professing his own guilt. Therefore, theoretically, compulsory signing of documents also may have been used to debunk any future claims of Soviet cruelty. Despite the attacks on the validity of Rawicz's story, the book raises critical philosophical questions. The fugitives' entire quest forces the reader to explore the endurance of their own determination. The tenacity of Rawicz and his six friends spawns the question of just how valuable freedom is. Were these escapees' extraordinary humans, or is liberty so essential to happiness that weeks of unfathomable torture are not even substantial to dissuade man from achieving it? Since there is no inherent value that each person places on freedom, the claim cannot be made that freedom is essential to each individual. In fact, because of the controversy regarding the validity of Racwicz's story, we cannot certify that Racwicz himself actually had the determination to accomplish the feat told in the story. Therefore, does someone exist that actually does have the determination and will power to face nearly impossible odds in order to achieve freedom? Are there people that are so uncompromising that liberty becomes indispensable to them? Fortunately, Captain Rupert Mayne, an intelligence officer in Calcutta, said that in 1942 he had debriefed three emaciated men claiming to have escaped from a Siberian camp, adding to the probability that at least three men carried out the dubious feat. Also, Witold Glinski, a Polish WWII veteran living in the UK, claimed that the story was true, but it had actually happened to him, not Racwicz. Therefore, most likely, Racwicz was either telling the truth about his experience, or had stole the story from Glinski. Either way, Racwicz did deliver it to a mass audience, and reflected to that audience just how precious freedom can be. Although Racwicz does answer some exceptionally beneficial philosophical questions, the relation between The Long Walk and history is severely impeded. Raciwicz's reliability is not definitive and, therefore, neither are the events described in the story. But, although the relation to history has been damaged, it is not destroyed. Some exceedingly valuable historical knowledge can still be salvaged from the wreckage. Even if Raciwicz was being dishonest, he did get his facts straight. Many former prisoners have testified that the conditions and treatment endured in gulags correlate with Raciwicz's description. Secondly, the book recounts the atmosphere of animosity that prevailed during 1940's Europe. Europe was in the middle of World War II, and Racwicz's account does a tremendous job of presenting the alliances and general dispositions that people had toward others outside their nationality. Lastly, The Long Walk givesthe reader a description of the cultures of Mongolia, China, and India. In each country Raciwicz encountered natives, and described the rituals and customs of those natives, in turn broadening the culture of the reader. Therefore, even if the story is untrue, Racwicz delivers historical knowledge in an entertaining way. Any teacher knows that people enjoy digesting what captivates them, and it is difficult not to be captivated by The Long Walk.

Loved the book great story read when I was in high school and wanted to read again.

割とよくある話ですが、逃亡して歩く先々で、助けをさしのべる各国の民族の特徴が描かれていて、興味深いものがありました。また、狩猟をして肉は食べるのだが、野菜を摂取することの大事さに気付かされます。

シベリアの収容所から脱出したポーランド軍の将校が、仲間と共にシベリアを南下し、ゴビ砂漠、ヒマラヤ山脈を徒歩で越え、インドに辿り着くまでの冒険談を記録している。車や食料などの重装備を備えていても困難であるこの南下路を、全くの無装備、しかも徒歩で辿ることは正常の神経を有している者は考えもしないだろう。しかし、ロシアに占領され、将校のような知識階級は抹殺の運命を担わされた時には、このような狂気の行動も可能になるのであろうか。　海外では長期に渡ってベストセラーになったとのことであるが、それを十分に伺わせる。読んでみて、とても実話とはにわかに信じ難い内容である。

This is as moving as Touching the Void and as detailed as the Snow Leapoard and 7 years in Tibet. Don't be put off by a bleak start,the author re discovers his spirit and faith in people within the camp butFaces up to a life of Slavery or the journey for life.Most will opt for the former. This is about the mental as much as the physical challenges.Where having a deficet in your knowledge can mean death.Master the animals ,learn from the nomads..Strap on your birch skis ,look out from your fish skin windows and go.Touching the Void meets 7 years in Tibet and The Snow Leapoard.Just read.

This is the tale of 'Slav' a former member of the Polish army who returns from fighting the Nazi's at the start of WWII, gets married and then gets arrested by the Russians. The charge of being a spy is based on the fact that he speaks Russian and lives in Poland near the Russian border. The sentence: 25 years in a Siberian Gulag. The book contains details of the torture inflicted to try and obtain a confession and, whilst the details are/not to graphic, they're not for the overly squemish. Slavomir joins hundreds of other prisoners on a train journey to the depths of Siberia with a fair chance that he won't survive. 7 men decide to try and escape and with virtually no resources and little hope set of on a walk to freedom. What follows next is a tale of incredible human endurance and a will to survive that almost defies belief. Spoiler alert,not all of the escapees make it but the journey and the battle against the elements on starvation rations is astonishing. The story flows at a good pace with a nice light touch on the dialogue throughout. I do have one problem with this story and that is the ending. Obviously Slavomir survives as he is the author and he is not alone. but what happens next. does he find his wife? Does he meet up again with the other survivors? The story finishes a bit abruptly and it would have been nice to have a paragraph or two just to finish the story off. Maybe I`m being picky because the tale is about the walk to freedom but it would have been nice to know. This is a fairly minor gripe and really doesn't detract from a cracking story

If you enjoy books about triumph over the most incredible adversity, this book is a must read. I honestly couldn’t put it down. It depicts how resilient people are even in the most awful and hopeless of situations, and how the human spirit can overcome the most dreadful of hardships. There were many lump-in-throat moments as well as feelings of dumbfoundedness. A brilliant book.